


Alone in the Dark

by bumblezz



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, au where everything's the same except alejandro keeps the panda, i live for this au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24880570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bumblezz/pseuds/bumblezz
Summary: ❛❛ 𝙃𝙚'𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚.𝘼𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚.𝘼𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚.𝘼𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚.𝘼𝙡𝙤—𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙡. ❜❜
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Kudos: 8





	Alone in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> i'm thanking the td discord for this idea. they come in a clutch when it comes to these sorts of things ;)

Alejandro is alone in the dark.

Isn’t it bad that he’s used to it? It’s bad that he’s used to shutting himself in his room, flicking off his lights, going silent, pretending he was merely tucking in for the night, only to have curled tight inside of his closet with a pillow pressed against his face to muffle the sounds of sobs. It’s bad that he can twist and contort his body in so many different ways because of how often he’s convinced his older brothers to entertain him with a game of  _ hide and seek _ when they were younger, how he forced himself to stay silent as he squeezed his way underneath the small opening under his bed or in his top shelf and sat there for  _ hours _ , waiting and waiting and  _ waiting… _ . It’s bad that he’d been left gasping and panting underneath his parents’ car, biting his lip and holding back sneezes when dust flew up his nose on more than one occasion, straining his eyes through the blackness and holding his breath to listen for their footsteps when his brothers had enough of him and his antics and quite literally chased him down; he can still remember the day they actually caught him, the blinding, bruising pain shooting up his right arm and bursting into shivers along his body.

Alejandro is alone in the dark. He shouldn’t be used to it.

How long has it been since the air combed through his hair and brushed his cheeks? What time is it? Is it light outside or is it dark outside? Where are the windows?  _ Why  _ aren’t there windows? He’s been alone before, in the dark, but not like  _ this.  _ He had a choice if he wanted to come out, or if he wanted to stay there for the rest of eternity (it wasn’t like his parents cared; who would?  _ Jose _ and  _ Carlos  _ are more important, anyway ). The longest he’s been hidden was a bit over four hours, five at tops, broken by the urge to go, and even then he was still hesitant to join the family again. He  _ chose  _ when he came out, he  _ chose  _ where he wanted to hide, he  _ chose  _ to stay in darkness (most of the time...he doesn’t have a supernatural control of dark, he doesn’t think). But he’s not choosing now. He’s being forced, and being forced is worse than choosing; it’s  _ definitely  _ worse.

Alejandro is alone in the dark. He can’t leave.

Not that anyone  _ cares  _ that he’s alone, in this swallowing, choking black. He may be alone, and he may want out, but his mind is still intact — it doesn’t take a genius to know nobody can care less about his well being, or where he could  _ possibly  _ be when he should be in the comfort of his home. Friends don’t exist to care, family has  _ yet  _ to call, strangers don’t even  _ know  _ him….  _ Nobody cares that he’s alone. Nobody cares about the burns that scream and cry and shout and catch fire upon touch.  _ It stings, twists deep in his chest, but he pretends he doesn’t notice. Not even when that heavy lump clogs his throat.

Alejandro is alone in the dark. No one bats an eyelash.

Alone.

Alone.

_ Alone. _

**_Alo—_ ** __

Something scratches against metal. It’s quiet, but it’s the only noise that’s been heard in a long, lonely two hours, and it makes him jolt and bust his head against more metal in his surprise.  _ Ow!  _ He wants to holler, but his throat is raw from earlier, louder use. What is it? Are they branches? Tweezers? Claws?

He blinks, squints through the horrible, lonely dark, trying and  _ not  _ failing to see properly through the wacky “eyes” of the robot suit and peers downward to meet gazes with a tiny, adorable panda, its body's outline barely visible in such a black room. It makes a noise, a worried growl in the back of its throat, and scratches again, but never looks away. Alejandro doesn’t, either.

He... _ isn’t alone _ . 

His panda is right there with him. _He_ bats an eyelash when he’s gone. _He_ worries about him. _He...cares._ Someone cares for him — genuinely cares about him.

That lump in his throat bursts and now he’s biting his bottom lip to keep the budding tears under control. A gentle smile appears on his face.

Alejandro isn’t alone in the dark. Rico keeps him company.

**Author's Note:**

> another fic that should TECHNICALLY be in my ddus series because it's not done but fuck it


End file.
